WELCOME HOME: Military veteran and his family start their life in a donated, mortgage-free home in Palmer

PALMER—Luke Connally, his wife Mary and their three children have a fresh start, a new beginning, starting with their new home off the Glenn Highway, right outside downtown Palmer.

This house came to them as a mortgage free donation through the partnership of Wells Fargo and the Military Warriors Support Foundation.

“Words are not sufficient. I’m just overwhelmed and grateful,” Mary said.

On Friday, June 29, the Connally family stood outside their new home with the people who helped them get there. Marc Hamblen, senior vice president of Home Preservation at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage said that the Connally family was “giving a house a home.”

“We welcome you to the Valley,” Hamblen said.

Luke Connally was born in Annapolis, Maryland, growing up in Virginia and Texas. Luke wanted to follow his family’s footsteps and he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on Sept. 10, 2001. He was injured by a suicide car bomb while he was on a combat tour in Iraq. He received the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat in addition to several other commendations.

Luke said he was overwhelmed with emotion. He looked around and got teary-eyed.

“I’ve only ever seen this on TV,” Luke said.

Rullah Price, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Home Lending handed the Connally family their ceremonial key in front of the garage, then using the real key, everyone walked inside the house. The kids came through first, bolting past their parents. The two brothers, just a couple years apart squealed with giddiness as they roamed around their new living quarters. Their youthful enthusiasm made everyone chuckle.

The boys were most impressed by the finished crawl space, saying,” whoa! Look at this hole!”

Luke let the two boys inspect the crawl space, saying “don’t turn any knobs” as they made their way down the ladder.

“That’s all they care about,” Luke laughed.

Ken Eakes, Executive Director, Military Warriors Support Foundation was tickled pink watching the boys scurry about.

“This is still one family at a time,” he said.

Eakes said the Military Warriors Support Foundation started turning around houses for veterans at the break of the housing crisis in 2007. He said they were approaching 1,000 houses and covered 47 states, with North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont left to go.

David Dougherty, National Director for the Skills for Life program Military Warriors Support Foundation showed Luke around the Valley last week, connecting him to other veterans and community resources. Dougherty helped wrangle the Connally’s toddler as everyone toured the house. He said that he was looking forward to sharing this story back home in San Antonio, Texas.

“It’ recharges you a bit,” Dougherty said.

Since 2012, Wells Fargo has donated more than 350 homes to veterans in all 50 states, totaling to over $55 million in value, according to a recent press release from Wells Fargo. Hamblen said that this house was the first one donated in Alaska through the program, marking an inimitable milestone for everyone.

“The backyard is really cool!” one of the boys, Charlie exclaimed.

Luke is an avid hunter and he undoubtedly moved to an ideal state for it. He said that he has a hunting trip in Nome planned for the end of the summer. For now, he and his family will be busy unpacking boxes and acclimating to the Mat-Su Valley.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at Jacob.mann@frontiersman.com.